The Bedford Historical Society Antiques Show

BEDFORD, N.Y.

: - The Bedford Historical Society presented its annual Antiques Show at Historical Hall, Bedford Village Green, Saturday and Sunday, October 18-19.

In spite of cool temperatures and steady rain on Sunday morning -- or perhaps because of them -- 19 exhibitors exuded camaraderie and good humor even as they negotiated for both parking spaces outside the hall and elbowroom for coffee in the kitchen.

"The show is wonderful," said Sally Case of Deacon's Horse Antiques. "Like shows used to be, with dealers who have been in the business a long time. The atmosphere is very personal."

According to Lynn Ryan, executive director of the historical society, the ambience comes naturally to the location. The society does not provide a Friday evening preview party because of the hall's small size, and also because the show had been conducted for many years in August, when Bedford's population left town.

"We still have patrons and sponsors," said Ryan, "and we try to do something different for them each year. Last year Chris Jussel lectured, but this year we are publishing a history of the town through photographs, Images of Bedford, in November, so we thought it might be overkill to also include an event for the show. But antiques are a great way to showcase the building and get people to Bedford for a fun autumn weekend."

Among Americana offerings, G. Keith Funston, Jr Antiques, Sudbury, Mass., featured a cherry Hepplewhite chest of drawers with line inlay, retaining much original finish, priced at a surprisingly affordable $2,800, and several charming miniature portraits on ivory. Deacon's Horse Antiques, Darien, Conn., offered an Eighteenth Century Boston portrait for $1,800 and an 1870-80 mahogany blockfront secretary for $10,500.

Running Battle Antiques, Millbrook, N.Y., displayed two wonderfully carved oak coffers: an early Seventeenth Century diminutive child's example, featuring pinwheel designs, circa 1640, was $6,500, while a larger, more traditional English coffer was priced $8,500.

At H and H Antiques, New Canaan, Conn., and Naples, Fla., a Gorham coin five-piece plate tea service and tray, circa 1865, $4,200, outshone the many silver items in that booth.

Continental offerings included a Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century hand painted screen, $6,500, at Donald Rich Antiques, Green-wich, Conn., and a colorful, whimsically painted Nineteenth Century French bride's box, $1,875, in the booth of Rena Goldenberg, Orange, Conn.

Palmer Le Roy Fine Art, Dover and Nantucket, Mass., hung a William Lester Stevens' (American, 1888-1969) oil on canvas, "Sunlit Road, Vermont," front and center. Stevens painted with Hibbard and Gruppe, and was one of the founders of the Rockport Art Association.

Fine art prints were highlighted by a pair of McKenney & Hall hand colored stone lithograph portraits from the Indian Tribes of North America, 1797-1868, priced $9,500 for both in the booth of Barbara Fine Antique Prints & Maps, Beverly, Mass. A Charles Dana Gibson drawing of an anxious woman clutching a child (the woman still managing to appear quite attractive and Gibsonesque), used in Life magazine, with stamp, was $3,000 at Maile's Antiques, Waccabuc, N.Y. Maile's also displayed an 1829 map of Salem Township, Westchester County, by David Burr, New York City. The copperplate engraving was $1,500.

Rich textiles were featured by Amy Parsons Quilts, Bedford, N.Y., and Fardin Oriental Rugs, Fairfield, Conn. Linens dealer East End Galleries, who made the trip from Pittsburgh for its first Bedford show, offered a late Nineteenth Century embroidery on silk of an eagle, four flags and a shield, bearing the words "E Pluribus Unum," for $695.

The Bedford Historical Society Antiques Show is a lovely town tradition that supports the society's efforts. For information on next year's fall edition, 914-234-9751.